


wake up

by Purple64



Series: Raid of Dream [1]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Bad Parents Jack and Janet Drake, Child Abandonment, Dream Eater Jason Todd, Dream Eaters (Kingdom Hearts) - Freeform, Dreams and Nightmares, Family Feels, Gen, No Incest, Scarecrow's Fear Toxin (DCU), kingdom hearts dream drop distance elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-01
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-13 04:35:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29770758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Purple64/pseuds/Purple64
Summary: Jason just wanted to leave the gala early to find a nightmare to eat.He ends up finding one there instead, and a new friend too.Inspired by Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance.
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Jason Todd, Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne, Tim Drake & Dick Grayson & Jason Todd, Tim Drake & Jason Todd
Series: Raid of Dream [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2204295
Comments: 4
Kudos: 113





	wake up

**Author's Note:**

> Not really edited, forgive my mistakes.
> 
> So here I am again, creating an au no one asked for.  
> You don't need to be familiar with Kingdom Hearts, I took a plot point from the game and kinda put my own spin on it.

Twenty more minutes, you can last twenty more, Jason kept repeating to himself.

It was always painful to go to galas, between the stupid monkey suits and the fake smiles he had to put on for all these rich phonies, Jason is surprised he hasn’t gone ballistic.

He knew he was on edge cause it was getting close to a feeding time. There weren’t many people left with dream-eater ancestry and most people thought they died out.

He just ended up being one of the lucky few whose dream-eater genes manifested in his early childhood. His parents had never really caught on what their son was, but there were plenty of nightmares in his home that his dream-eater side never felt starved.

Thankfully, he only felt the need to feed off nightmares every couple months and as he got older he found different ways to get his fix.

When he was living on the streets, he’d shelter together with the other street kids. They would find an empty place to sleep for the night, since it was always safer to rest as a group. There was always a guarantee that someone would have a nightmare so Jason never had to worry when he did get that itch for a feed.

Personally, he liked eating those nightmares the most. It was nice seeing the his fellow street kids relax as the nightmare left, he was glad he could help them have a peaceful sleep for once.

Jason didn’t know how describe a feeding, he just felt the air around him change and the smell of fear or despair would call to him.

Once he got close to the source of the nightmare, it was like the person’s subconscious knew that there was someone nearby who would help them escape from the bad dreams, and just let it go.

All Jason had to do was reach out his hand, and the negative energy would steep away from the source of the nightmare.

It almost looked like black sludge, steeping out of the person’s head. The dark wisps would make its way towards Jason and by the time it traveled up to his open palm, it would form into a ball of energy for him to consume.

Some times if he concentrated hard enough, he could see flashes of what the nightmare contained. It never felt right to Jason, having the power to know the darkness that haunted the person he fed from.

Since technically, he was taking from them without permission, even if the benefit was the person was no longer trapped in a bad dream. That’s why he usually ate the nightmare right away to resist the temptation.

As soon as he started to live with Bruce, he tried to keep his heritage to himself. His role as Robin let him roam around Gotham at night anyway. So he was always able to find someone having a nightmare. He didn’t have to be in the same room as the person. He practiced using his powers enough that just being on the roof their building was close enough for him to call out to the nightmare.

But, then the Scarecrow happened.

There was a bad outbreak of fear toxin and Batman had Nightwing come to help with getting antidotes to the panicked crowd of people. Jason didn’t think about how he would be in a room full of people trapped in their living nightmares. He quickly became overwhelmed by the call to consume and his dream-eater took over.

He didn’t remember much of that night, just that at one point Dick had pulled him out and got him to the cave. Bruce found out quickly that Jason wasn’t fully human and it seemed like he bought every book on dream-eaters known to man. Jason learned more about his abilities in that week after the event, than he did struggling on his own for the last thirteen years.

Apparently, Jason feeding off the people on fear toxin wasn’t the same as people in nightmares. The fear toxin victims Jason fed off had to be hospitalized, stuck in a coma like state for weeks (they eventually all woke up, Jason didn’t need that guilt hanging over him).

Jason was eating the negative energy stemming from their fears, which were an essential part of them. People needed to carry around some negative energy to keep a balance within, and Jason was taking that from them. While a nightmare was more of temporary negative energy and safe for them to lose, so they wouldn’t be affected if Jason took it from them.

Bruce told him his eyes started to turn purple, which was a sign that he was consuming the wrong energy. Apparently, when he ate nightmares, his eyes turned pink. Which was a fact that Dick endlessly teased him for, and Jason threated to peak into dreams for some blackmail. Even though Jason just learned that he should be able to that, and hasn’t exactly figured it how to do it yet.

(Bruce quickly forbade using his powers to peak into people’s dreams without permission. And no, it didn't matter if Dick was being a jerk and he deserved a way to get back at him.)

It’s been a few months now and Bruce was working with him on exploring on the extent of his powers. Between him, Alfred, and Dick, Jason had an endless support system. The three men trying their best to learn about the needs he may have and how to help regulate his feedings. They figured he could go about two months before he endangered himself.

Bruce insisted that he had someone with him when he looked for a meal, just so he had someone watching his back as he concentrated on grabbing a nightmare. Or to make sure he didn’t grab too many at once. Some times, he would accidentally overeat, and he’d feel sick for a few days. Plus his eyes would give off a pink glow and Jason couldn’t go out until it wore off.

That’s why he was itching to leave this party, knowing that he had to wait for Bruce or Dick to finish making their rounds so he could go out. Bruce must know he was done for the night, Jason saw him whisper something to Dick and the younger man headed his way.

“Hey Jay,” Dick ruffled Jason’s hair and led him towards the exit, “heard a little birdy was ready to go.” Jason shoved Dick’s arm away and went to pat down his hair, thankful that he could leave early.

“Yeah, even if it means I have to get stuck surviving a car ride with you.” Dick put a hand on his chest, in mock offense.

“I’ll have you know, it’s been three months since my last speeding ticket.”

“I thought you told Bruce it’s been six months,” Jason said, a smirk forming on his face. The widening of Dick’s eyes confirmed his new potential blackmail. Before Dick had a chance to beg for Jason silence. Jason felt the air shift around him.

He could smell a nightmare nearby, and it seemed to be calling out to him with urgency. Jason practically ran towards it, Dick yells of confusion ignored in favor of finding the person having the nightmare.

He ran until he reached the coatroom, and threw the door open, seeing a kid curled up in the corner. The kid is whimpering in fear from whatever he was dreaming about. Dick finally catches up as Jason holds out his hand to free the kid from the nightmare.

“Hey! Why’d you run off so suddenly?” Dick demands. Jason is caught off guard by his sudden appearance and loses focus on his powers. Instead of the nightmare coming to him, Jason feels himself going to the nightmare.

He blinks and finds himself in a dark empty house, hearing the faint cries of a young kid. He follows the noise and sees the kid from the coatroom. He’s in the same position, hiding his face in his knees as he cries.

“I don’t want to be alone. Why am I always alone?” The kid is whispering the phrase to himself over and over. The nightmare was fueled by the feelings of abandonment and isolation. The biggest feeling though, was the longing of familial love.

Jason feels his heartbreak a little and couldn’t help but think about how that was him last year before Bruce found him.

He walks over to the kid and places a hand on his shoulder. The kid jumps and he meets the fearful eyes of his neighbor, Tim Drake.

“Jason?” Tim whispers, confusion painting his face, “what are you doing in my house?”

“Hey Timmy, I don’t know how to explain this but, this isn’t real. It just a nightmare, you need to wake up.”

“It’s not a nightmare,” Tim answers sadly, “my parents always leave me. They forgot me again, I didn’t even want to go this stupid party, and they can’t even bother to remember to take me home.”

Jason felt his blood boil, “Do you mean they left without you?”

Tim nods his head and hides his face in his knees again. “Is that why you fell asleep in the coatroom?”

“Coatroom?” Tim looks up and checks around the room. “But, this is my house.”

Jason scratches the back of his head, how do you explain that you are a supernatural being that consumes dreams without sounding crazy. Well, Tim is from Gotham so it couldn’t be that crazy to believe.

“Look kid, this is a dream, well more like a nightmare. I usually eat them, the nightmares, not dreams in general. This usually helps a person get to enjoy a more pleasant dream. But, I accidently entered your dream instead.”

“You eat nightmares? So you can take this away?” Tim gives him a hopeful look.

Jason doesn’t want to give the kid false hope. He doesn’t know if feeding works the same in the dream than out, but he could try.

“Sure kid, I can help you get out of this dream.” He pulls Tim up and places a hand on top of Tim’s head. “Just think of me as your personal dream-eater.”

He concentrates on pulling on the negative energy surrounding Tim and feels it gathering in his hand. He steps away from Tim and brings the nightmare up to his mouth.

Tim’s eyes widen at the sight amazed at Jason’s ability.

“And when you wake up, we could work on helping you with the parent situation. Bruce won’t mind a last minute sleepover,” he says before eating.

“Whoa…Jason, you’re eyes,” Tim starts, staring at him in wonder, “they’re pink!” That’s the last thing Jason hears before the room fades away.

Jason blinks and he finds himself in Dick’s arms, the older boy stroking his head and looking relieved that he’s awake. He helps Jason up and swats the top of his head.

“Don’t scare me like that again, you’ve been out for five minutes. I was just about to call Bruce for help.”

“Sorry, but I just learned how to enter dreams and found out I can eat nightmares inside one too.”

“Yeah, I can tell, Mr. Pinkeye.”

“Hey! I told not to call me that anymore, guess Dad will be finding out about that last speeding ticket after all.”

“Hey!”

A cough interrupted their squabble and the two turned to the young boy standing awkwardly in the corner. “Uh, hi?” Tim said, “so you were saying something about a sleepover?”

“Oh, yeah,” Jason says sheepishly, “I might have told Tim about me. You think Dad will mind if I invite my new friend over? Since it looks like his parents decided to leave without him.”

An angry look passed over Dick’s face at that last point, before giving Jason a quick nod. He walked over to Tim with a soft look on his face.

“Oh, I have to be there when you explain this one to Dad. Come on, Tim was it?” Dick puts an arm around his shoulder leading the boy out of the coatroom. “You like hot chocolate? Let me tell you our butler, well he’s more like our unofficial grandfather, makes the best hot chocolate. I feel like we’ll need a cup of it tonight.”

Jason followed behind, shooting a quick text to Bruce about the guest and his feeding. He slipped on some sunglasses in case he ran into anyone as they finally leave the party. He wrote one more text, this time to Alfred, telling him the same information he told Bruce. Just adding the hot chocolate request, knowing the man would have it ready and waiting for them by the time they got home.

He ran to fall into step with Dick and Tim. Seeing the small boy tucked under the older man’s arm, cause a warm feeling inside of his chest. He felt like the boy was under his protection and vowed to make sure to consume his nightmares, so he wouldn’t be scared like that again.

No kid should have bad dreams. Plus he promised to be Tim’s personal dream-eater.

**Author's Note:**

> Tell me what you think!
> 
> Idk what this was, I really love the kh fandoms take on dream-eaters.  
> So I wanted to play with the idea, in a different fandom. Will this stay a one-shot?  
> Who knows?


End file.
